Weather Journal: Ready for Rain Until Friday

Greater New York has fallen under a flash flood watch, with the vigilant meteorologists of the National Weather Service calling for “periods of torrential rain” until Friday morning.

The sky over New York turned dark — #93928C to be exact — as thunderstorms rolled through the region Wednesday, causing a few brief downpours and some lightning and rolling thunder. (It was worse elsewhere: Syracuse picked up three weeks worth of rainfall in just two hours Wednesday morning.)

Much of the northeast will continue to share a similar storm threat. Expect bouts of extremely heavy rain; rates of one inch per hour or more are possible in stronger storms. With the atmosphere packed with moisture to the 90th percentile this week, any and all thunderstorms should be treated as a potential flooding threat.

New York City-based meteorologist Eric Holthaus contributes daily weather reports and analysis on Metropolis. For the latest on conditions in New York and elsewhere, follow his updates (@wxrisk) on Twitter.